“My Blue World”
Prize-winning painting at the international competition of the Culture House, Székesfehérvár, Hungary. The work was exhibited for a month (1–28 October 2010) during Kocaeli's twin-city programme.
Painter · Los Angeles & Kocaeli
Nalan Kumlalı Atahan
PainterArt consultantExhibition organizerWorkshop educator
A Marmara-trained painter who reads the symbols of Hittite, Phrygian, Lydian and Seljuk Anatolia through printmaking, mixed media and gold leaf. For fifteen years she has also built rooms where art meets people who would not otherwise walk into a gallery.
About me
From Değirmendere to a studio in Los Angeles
Nalan Kumlalı Atahan was born in Değirmendere, on the Gulf of İzmit in Kocaeli, Turkey. She graduated from the Painting Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Marmara University in Istanbul, where she also trained in mosaic and original printmaking, techniques that still shape the layered surfaces of her canvases.
Her work reached international audiences early: the group exhibition Journey into the Labyrinth in Berlin in 1998, then workshops and exhibitions in Hungary and Spain. In 2010 her painting My Blue World won an award at the Culture House of Székesfehérvár, Hungary. In Kocaeli she taught painting at the Metropolitan Municipality's vocational training centre (KOMEK) and began her long collaboration with the Ofiste Sanat project as its art consultant.
She moved to the United States in 2012 and works from her studio in the Los Angeles area. Her recent paintings, shown in New York and at the Sancar Turkish Cultural & Community Center in Chapel Hill, return to the cultural memory of Anatolia. Through the Yadigâr – Memento project she brings traditional Turkish crafts to American audiences and raises funds for Anatolian artisans.
Education & training
- —Marmara University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Painting Department · Istanbul
- —Mosaic and original printmaking studies within the degree
- —International artist workshops · Hungary
- —International artist workshops · Spain
Teaching, talks & roles
- 2010–Art consultant, Ofiste Sanat · İzmit
- —Painting instructor, KOMEK (Kocaeli Metropolitan Vocational Training Centre)
- 2017Career talks on art consultancy, starting out after fine-arts school, and exhibiting in the USA
- 2020Host, “NalanCA Sanat” weekly video series with artists
- 2022Monoprint workshop leader, ATASC California Turkish Festival · Long Beach
- 2022–Co-organizer, Yadigâr – Memento, ATAMLA-AKM · Los Angeles
Awards & recognitions
Recognition at home and abroad
“Homage to Woman”
Commissioned by the Change Leaders Association and presented at the gala of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) 2025 Annual Conference, Arlington, Virginia.
Kaleidoscope House, Esztergom
Invited international exhibition at the Kaleidoscope House arts centre, opened in the presence of the Ambassador of Turkey.
“My Mother and Me”
Jury member and co-lead of the Mother's Day children's painting competition of the Orange County Turkish School, California, for ages 4 to 12.
“The Child Who Dances with Colours”
Jury member for İzmit's first district-wide preschool painting competition, evaluating 445 works alongside Kocaeli University faculty.
Ofiste Sanat
Long-standing art consultant of a project that has staged 66 exhibitions and shown hundreds of artists in a working office in İzmit.
Artist statement
“Our roots come from Anatolia, and without knowing our roots we cannot contribute to today.”
I paint the layers Anatolia left behind: the sun discs of the Hittites, the geometry of Phrygia and Lydia, the stars and knots of the Seljuks. I do not copy these signs. I let them surface through printmaking, overpainting and mixed media, the way a motif surfaces in a worn kilim or on an excavated shard.
My training in mosaic and original printmaking taught me to build an image from fragments. Gold leaf marks the moment of inner light; a passage from dark tones into brightness is how I paint awareness, of a person and of a society. Living far from the land these symbols come from, I paint them to remember, and to share them with people who have never walked there.
Nalan Kumlalı Atahan · Los Angeles
Services
Four ways to work together
Art buying consultancy
Guidance for private collectors, offices and hospitality spaces building a collection with intention.
- Selection matched to space, budget and taste
- Access to Turkish and international contemporary artists
- Framing, placement and lighting advice
Art workshops: creation & execution
Workshops designed and run end to end, for schools, cultural centres, companies and community groups.
- Painting, printmaking and mixed media
- Anatolian heritage crafts: felting, pottery, wood stamp, henna
- Children's programmes and competitions
Commissioned painting
Original works made for a person, an institution or an occasion, such as Homage to Woman for ATAA 2025.
- Mixed media on canvas, gold leaf
- Symbolic and narrative portraits
- Honorary gifts and award pieces
Exhibition consultancy
From concept to opening night for galleries, associations and non-gallery venues, drawn from 60+ exhibitions organized.
- Curatorial concept and artist selection
- Jury and open-call management
- Catalogue, press and opening coordination
Organizations
Projects she built and runs
Ofiste Sanat · Art in the Office
An exhibition programme hosted inside a working insurance office on Leyla Atakan Street, founded by Ercan Kandemir. It brings painting, printmaking, photography and ebru to people too busy to visit galleries, with organization by Nazan Kumlalı.
66exhibitions by 2026
15years running
100sof artists shown
- 2018No. 36 · “Touching Life”, Kocaeli University students, curated by Metin Kar
- 2019No. 39 · “Devinim”, prints by Nilgün Şener
- 2020“5/BEŞ”, interdisciplinary show by Kocaeli University Fine Arts faculty
- 2025No. 63 · “Story of a City”, SAGÜSAD photography
- 202615th year · “Gülistan”, ebru and kaat'ı
- 2026No. 66 · “Random Traces”, prints by Yasemin Sarı Bayer
Yadigâr – Memento
An exhibition project presenting vintage textiles and handicrafts of Anatolia with live workshops in wool felting, pottery, wood stamping and henna. The 2023 edition in Santa Monica and Palo Alto raised funds for artisans of Southeastern Anatolia after the February earthquakes. Organized with Vega Sankur and Gülendam Ece Hürmeydan.
2022first edition, Los Angeles
4live craft workshops, 2023
3US cities in 2024
Ekim Geçidi 10 · Kocaeli
An interdisciplinary contemporary art exhibition for the 88th anniversary of the Republic, co-organized with photographer Sema Özevin for the Museum of Modern Arts Association. Artists came from 21 Turkish provinces and abroad, and half of sales were pledged to the Van earthquake region.
88artists
2galleries at once
50%of sales pledged to relief
“My Mother and Me” Painting Competition
A free, prize-giving Mother's Day competition for children aged 4 to 12, led with painter and art teacher Gülendam Ece Hürmeydan. The jury joined artists and academics from Los Angeles, New York and Istanbul.
NalanCA Art
Her consultancy studio, working between California and Turkey. Through it she consults for Ofiste Sanat, joins exhibition openings in Kocaeli such as the World Art Day group shows, and in 2020 hosted the weekly “NalanCA Sanat” video series of conversations with artists.
Works
Two periods of painting
Early works UP TO 2010
Journey into the Labyrinth · Labirente Yolculuk
1998 · Berlin, Germany
Group exhibition that first carried her work abroad.
My Blue World · Benim Mavi Dünyam
1–28 Oct 2010 · Culture House, Székesfehérvár, Hungary
Award-winning painting, shown for a month in the Culture House gallery.
Current works 2011 – TODAY
Homage to Woman · Kadın'a Saygı
2025 · Mixed media and gold leaf on canvas, 35 × 45 cm
A line from the Hittite queen Puduhepa to women pioneers today: 16 figures for the 16 years of the Kıvılcımlar programme, five young portraits at the centre. Presented at the ATAA gala, Arlington, VA. See the painting ↗
The Heritage of Anatolia · series
2021–2022 · New York & Chapel Hill, NC
Paintings using print and painting techniques to reinterpret the legacy of the Hittites, Phrygians, Lydians and Anatolian Seljuks. Exhibition photo ↗
Photos
From openings, workshops and the studio
Talks & videos
Exhibitions list
Selected exhibitions
| Exhibition | Location | Date | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homage to WomanCommissioned work presented at the ATAA 2025 Annual Conference gala | Westin Crystal City, Arlington, VA, USA | 3 May 2025 | Presentation |
| Yadigâr – MementoTextiles & handicrafts of Southeastern Anatolia · organizer | Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA, USA | 13 May 2023 | Organized |
| Yadigâr – MementoFundraising exhibition and workshops · organizer | Unitarian Universalist Community Church, Santa Monica, CA, USA | 5–6 May 2023 | Organized |
| California Turkish FestivalMonoprint workshop leader, ATASC | Shoreline Aquatic Park, Long Beach, CA, USA | 22 May 2022 | Workshop |
| The Heritage of AnatoliaTwo-artist show with ceramicist Pınar Güzelgün Hangün | Sancar Turkish Cultural & Community Center, Chapel Hill, NC, USA | May – 1 Jun 2022 | Two-person |
| On the Path of the SunGüneşin İzinde · with Pınar Güzelgün Hangün | New York, NY, USA | 2021 | Two-person |
| Invited exhibitionInternational artists gallery, Kaleidoscope House | Esztergom, Hungary | c. 2012 | Solo |
| Ekim Geçidi 10 KocaeliInterdisciplinary contemporary art · exhibitor and co-organizer | Gar Art Gallery & İzmit Art Gallery, Kocaeli, Turkey | 25 Oct – 13 Nov 2011 | Group |
| My Blue WorldAward-winning work | Culture House Gallery, Székesfehérvár, Hungary | 1–28 Oct 2010 | Group · Award |
| Journey into the LabyrinthLabirente Yolculuk | Berlin, Germany | 1998 | Group |
Photos & news
In the press
ABDPostMay 2025
ATAA 2025 conference gala features “Homage to Woman”
Profile of her career and the symbolism of the painting. Includes portrait and artwork photos.
Read ↗ Anadolu AgencyMay 2022“The Heritage of Anatolia” tours the United States
AA report on the Chapel Hill opening at the Sancar center, with exhibition photo.
Read ↗ BroadwayWorldMay 2023Yadigâr “Memento” benefits Anatolian artisans
Opening reception guests, workshops and the Palo Alto follow-up.
Read ↗ Santa Monica ObserverMay 2023Yadigâr fundraising event in Santa Monica
Group photo of the organizers with Council Member Phil Brock.
Read ↗ Özgür KocaeliApr 2026Ofiste Sanat marks 15 years with “Gülistan”
Ebru and kaat'ı exhibition, art consultancy by Nalan Kumlalı Atahan.
Read ↗ YouTube · Career talkAug 2017Art and Art Consultancy
A conversation on becoming an art consultant and what new fine-arts graduates should do.
Watch ↗ ATASCMay 20221st Annual California Turkish Festival
Programme listing her monoprint workshops at Shoreline Aquatic Park, Long Beach.
Read ↗ Ekim Geçidi 10Oct 201188 artists for the Republic's 88th year
Exhibition blog with opening photos, catalogue and the full artist list.
Read ↗ Kaleidoscope HouseEsztergomHistory of the house
Mentions her exhibition, attended by the Ambassador of Turkey.
Read ↗Contact
Commissions, workshops & consultancy
For studio visits, commissioned work, workshop programmes or exhibition projects in the United States and Turkey.
- nalankumlali@gmail.com
- Studio
- Los Angeles area · Long Beach, California
- Also in
- İzmit, Kocaeli, Turkey
- Nalan Kumlali Atahan · NalanCA Art ↗
- Languages
- Turkish · English